Football Coach/Player Media Luncheon Comments

OSU Coach Bob Simmons

On what he did during the off week
"I just relaxed during our off week. On Saturday got a chance to watch some football games like most coaches would do. Instead of playing golf I decided to watch Kansas and Colorado and some other games."

On what his team accomplished during the off week
"I think we did everything we wanted to get done. We will find out in this upcoming ballgame against Colorado. We really went back to doing the little things and being successful. Trying to dot the I's and cross the t's. To get our team to understand that those are the things that will help you win football games. Working on trying to eliminate our mistakes. I thought our attitude was good last week. They had Friday and Monday off and they will come back today and get after it again."

On returning to Colorado
"I have a lot of friends there, but all my emotion will be with Oklahoma State and really trying to get our team going in the right direction. I spent eight years there and have a lot of fond memories. Obviously Coach Barnett is a very special friend in the relationship that we do have."

On Colorado being 1-6
"No, I do not think of them as being the best 1-6 team in America. Coach Barnett does not think that way either. No coach wants to be 1-6 and be called the best 1-6 team in America. At least I don't. They have athletes on the football team and would like to have that record turned around. I think they are a good football team. They have trouble on both sides of the ball with being a young football team and that is what happens with young football teams. We still have to go out there and execute. Their record is 1-6, but you have to look at what they have recruiting and what kind of players they have.

On Aso's progress
"I am very pleased with Aso. He really performed, but he did make a couple of mistakes. I like the emotion that he brings because I think he wants perfection at the quarterback position, and now they really have a quarterback that is a coach on the field. I think he has improved during this off week so we will see how he will perform in this upcoming Saturday."

On Aso Pogi's leadership
"It is a good starting point to have a young man with those traits and terms of leadership. I think now it is just a matter of him growing and getting better and having confidence in his teammates. The one thing about leadership is getting support around you in terms of depending upon them and not trying to do it yourself."

On viewing this game as a confidence builder
"The first quarter you want to get started on the right foot. At the same time it is what you do and how you finish. T hat is what we have to do. We have to finish. We cannot make the kinds of mistakes going down towards the wire. We got to do the things to help us win ballgames not lose."

On gaining confidence from Iowa State
"I think we gained quite a bit of confidence. Just in what they say and how they carry themselves. We had a lot of success throwing the football and our receivers coming up and making plays. I think that was important to the offense. As we go into this ballgame carry over is important. We are looking to carry some of that success over."

On the tight ends performing
"This has been a program that has grown tight ends in the past. One thing we have used our tight ends for is more protection. Obviously we look at how we can get them involved. When people look at us they see our tight ends in some formation. That is one position as we come into this second half that we are going to try to make a little more productive."

On the team's goal of making a bowl game
"We still have that as a goal. We have four losses and we have to play one ballgame at a time. This is the most important game. We have to get started first and you do that by putting wins on the board. That is the one thing we have to do. In the position that we are in every game is important for us if we want to achieve that goal."

On if the season can be salvaged
"In all honesty i really think this can be salvaged. I counted ten seniors on this team and the rest of them are sophomores and juniors. We have some kids that our very energetic about wanting to have a good program including our seniors. So we are very much into it."

OSU Player Sean Barry

On how the team used the week off
"First of all, we as a team decided to forget about what happened earlier in the season. We decided that this was going to be a new season. I think it was a blessing that we had an off week. We went back to fundamentals. We worked on drills the whole week. That was the theme of the week, fundamentals.

"Our goal these next five games is to go undefeated, and we believe that is possible. We put in a good week of work, and I think that we will be ready to go Saturday in Boulder."

On the team appreciating having Friday and Saturday off
"I did. I went home with one of my teammates to Oklahoma City and took my mind off of football. I got out, relaxed, rested, and ate well. I'm glad I did because now I'm ready to go. I'm pumped up to practice, and I want to go to Boulder and win."

On his recent performance
"Coach Simmons recruited me as a defensive player, even when he was at Colorado. He was recruiting me as a linebacker or a defensive end. I wanted to move to a tight end, and Coach Simians gave me the opportunity. He and I sat down and talked and decided that it was in my best interest to go back to defense. Last year, I didn't play as well as I wanted to. I guess I was getting adjusted to playing defense again. The coaches didn't have as much confidence in me to go out there and help the team. I had a hard time understanding that at first, but now I do understand it.

"This spring, I told myself that I was going to be a different player. I worked hard in the weight room and I studied film. I listened to what the coaches said, that was the key thing. Everything the coaches told me to do, I did. In the summer, Coach Walker came to me and he told me that he wanted me to play a little defensive tackle. I kind of laughed and I said, 'Are you serious?' And he said yes. I thought that it was going to be primarily for pass-rush downs, but I guess I played so well at camp and in the first couple of games that he decided to keep me down there. I like it.

"I'm not making as many plays as I thought I would because when you play tackle, you always get a double-team, and you have to worry about chop blocks. That's fine, because I don't have any personal agendas. As long as I can make a difference out there, whether I'm getting in on a tackle or getting a pass break up or even getting a hurry, I'm satisfied. My goal as a defensive player is to get the ball back for the offense and keep them in good scoring position."

On turning the season around
"If you look at it, we have five games to go. We can actually turn this season around to be a better than average season. A lot of people will say, 'Is that likely?' Well, that depends on our attitude. There's not a team on our schedule that we can't beat, in my opinion. We decided that we are going to put what happened in those last four games behind us. We've dedicated this new season to going undefeated. Our team has high spirits right now, and I think that we can pull it off."

October 23, 2000 | Cowboy Football